


cigarette stars

by knifesoul



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Cigarettes, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Slice of Life, i had no end point in mind while writing this, we be [romanticizing cigarettes], which was a bad idea because then it accidentally turned into 700 words of cottagecore stein/spirit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24238672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knifesoul/pseuds/knifesoul
Summary: Stein doesn’t realize he’s staring at Spirit until Spirit lets out a soft laugh.“Whatcha thinking about?” he says, smile reaching his eyes, too.“You,” Stein says simply, and is rewarded when Spirit’s cheeks rise to a shade that almost rivals his hair.
Relationships: Spirit Albarn | Death Scythe/Franken Stein
Comments: 9
Kudos: 153





	cigarette stars

**Author's Note:**

> trying to get back into writing a little, so i decided on a tiny spinach fathers drabble for the soul :)

“Didn’t Maka ask you to stop using those?”

Stein takes the cigarette out from his lips and blows a non-committal breath of smoke into the night air.

“Mmh.”

Stein hears Spirit shut the flimsy screen door behind him before he comes into Stein’s line of sight. He rests his forearms against the railing of the small deck, close enough that Stein can feel the temperature in the air change the tiniest bit with the warmth of Spirit’s body. He doesn’t look at Stein, and then pulls a cigarette out of his pocket. Stein fights the urge to smile but the hint of one slips out anyway.

“Don’t have a lighter with me. Do you mind?”

Now Spirit is looking at him, the cigarette between his lips, muffling his words. Stein doesn’t point out that  _ he _ has a lighter on him and leans forwards instead. He touches the glowing end of his to Spirit’s, pushing the embers into the paper of the cigarette. It catches, but Spirit doesn’t pull back right away, instead looking up into Stein’s eyes. Then he steps back, takes a drag of the cigarette, and exhales smoke into the air while Stein watches.

Stein turns his gaze away in favor of staring at the sky, both watching the stars pop into existence as the leftover sunlight finally falls below the horizon. Out here, the Milky Way is especially noticeable, and Stein likes the quiet stillness of it.The only other noise is Spirit breathing softly next to him, and Stein likes that too.

Things are better--softer, now. Spirit is less everywhere-and-losing-his-mind and happier instead. It’s rubbed off onto Stein too. He’s finding less and less reasons to do stupid, dangerous things to get that rush. Spirit somehow manages to give him that all by himself. Things are calmer and quieter but it’s the good kind of both. Stein is okay with it, probably due to the fact that Spirit is right there with him.

He doesn’t realize he’s staring at Spirit until Spirit lets out a soft laugh. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” he says, smile reaching his eyes, too.

“You,” Stein says simply, and is rewarded when Spirit’s cheeks rise to a shade that almost rivals his hair.

Spirit takes the cigarette out of his mouth so it’s easier to speak and Stein mirrors him.

“Well, Spirit says, clearly trying to regain his composure, “that makes two of us. Or--wait--”

“You’re thinking about yourself too?” Stein asks, trying and failing to keep the glee out of his voice.

Spirit rolls his eyes, but he can’t keep a smile off his face.

“You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

“Do I need to show you?”

“Yes, please.”

And that was all the warning Stein gets before Spirit takes the lapels of his coat into his hands, pulls him closer, and puts his lips to Stein’s. It’s brief, but Stein can still taste the smoke on Spirit’s mouth. Spirit’s lips are barely chapped but Stein doesn’t mind.

Their hands still rest on each other when they pull away, and Spirit’s eyes are soft. Stein feels like he could see the stars in them if he looked long enough.

“Do we have a plan for tomorrow?” Spirit asks. They still don’t move their hands off each other.

“Hmm. Nothing particularly in mind. You?”

“The kids were gonna play some basketball tomorrow. I think they have some chore they’re trying to decide who should do. Wanna go moderate?”

“Sure. Maybe we can prevent Crona coming away from it in bruises like last time.”

Spirit laughs, and finally pulls back in favor of putting the cigarette into his mouth.

“I doubt it. Patty can get pretty vicious when she doesn’t want to do cleaning.”

“You’re probably right,” Stein muses.

The crickets begin to sing, and Stein and Spirit fall silent to listen to them.

Back inside, Stein lifts the heavy comforter to slide into bed next to Spirit. It’s warm and soft and so is Spirit’s hair when he leans over to place a kiss on the top of his head. Spirit returns one to Stein’s jaw, and then rolls over to pull on the lamp cord and the room goes dark.

In his arms, Spirit’s gentle heartbeat lulls Stein into dreams, and the stars outside twinkle down on them fondly.

**Author's Note:**

> for those who are curious. spinach fathers came to be when my friend and i 1. decided spein was their ship name, 2. started key smashing that instead of typing it out properly because it was funny, and 3. realized a key smash looked like spinach and stuck with that. thanks for reading :)


End file.
